Motorhead, 'The World Is Yours' - Album Review

The new Motorhead CD, The World is Yours, will be released January 25 via EMI Imports. As with the Slash CD before it, Classic Rock magazine has done a special edition that comes with a magazine and other goodies (a poster and a pin, for those interested). There's two other editions in the UK, with a patch, or some picks, I believe. I am a sucker for such things, so I paid a premium to get the magazine sent to me from the UK. The pin is now proudly in my collection, the magazine has been read, the poster ready to be laminated and put up, and the CD is in and ready for my review. The only difference to the standard CD is the digipack format which, regrettably, is bigger than a normal CD, meaning I'll have trouble fitting it in my CD rack. The booklet is OK, but no lyrics, so I doubt it's extended in any way from the normal one and there are no bonus tracks.

"Born to Lose" is a classic Motorhead song title, hard to believe they've not used it before. The song is vintage Motorhead, all pounding drums, stop/starts and open guitars. I do notice that when I listen and think about it, Motorhead do a lot of stop/starting guitars, it's one way they break things up from being a wall of noise.

"I Know How to Die" is Lemmy's take on living so you can die without shame. It sounds to me like it could have been on Bastards. The guitar work is excellent as always. Phil Campbell is definitely wildly underrated as a guitar player.

"Get Back in Line" is the first song on the album to feature the classic Chuck Berry riff that often appears in Motorhead songs, giving weight to the claim that they are a rock n' roll band, and not heavy metal. The solo still sounds pretty heavy metal to me.

"Devil's in My Head" starts off with a classic riff before settling down to the familiar Motorhead chug. I have to say, I read the magazine that came with this edition, and Lemmy talks about how the CD's don't all sound the same. I don't disagree, but they are certainly all in the same vein. Like Black Label Society, you know exactly what you're getting when you buy a Motorhead CD.

"Rock n' Roll Music" heavily features those Chuck Berry and AC/DC riffs again. Think High Voltagewith more interesting chord changes and Lemmy singing, and that's about what this is.

"Waiting for the Snake," according to Lemmy, is a song with no real meaning. I thought it was obvious what it meant.

"Brotherhood of Man" is, from the first few notes, clearly a stand out track. The magazine compares it to "Orgasmatron," and I have to say, I can hear it, it's got a very similar riff, and a similar feel with Lemmy half whispering the words of war and death. It's a bit of a shame that even this deluxe edition does not come with lyrics. I can hear them well enough, but it would be nice to be able to follow along or just read them, Motorhead are known for better lyrics than most. If AC/DC feel the need to print words like "One mad shuffle, two women is trouble, sweat out a duel, humming right at you," why couldn't Motorhead print words like "We live and scrape in misery; we die by our own hand, And still we murder our own children, brotherhood of man?"

The next track is called "Outlaw," and features a stop/start riff and lots more double bass drums before kicking in to the familiar Motorhead groove. "I Know What You Need" is similarly built on the sort of riff that you would expect from Motorhead.

The final track is called "Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye" and is, again, built on a classic rock n' roll riff. I suspect the title is the main reason it's the last song. It certainly delivers.

As I look back through this, I realize I've written over and over "This one sounds like Motorhead." Truth is, despite what Lemmy says, I don't think if you took the last few albums and mixed them up, that the sound from one album to the next is different enough to tell which song belongs on which album. They have their sound, and they operate well within it. That's not to say there's no musical growth or that it sounds stagnant, just that, while Lemmy explores other avenues through the Head Cats; within Motorhead, he knows what his band does well, and they do it. They are certainly a great live band, I've seen them several times. I'm certainly very glad I was able to buy this special edition, and in general would recommend this CD to anyone who likes Motorhead. And, how can anyone who likes heavy metal, NOT like Motorhead ?

Favorite Album Covers

My friend Johnnie is working on a book about album covers. He says the book will be pure art – no photos of bands. It's hard to create a comprehensive list so he asked for our help. My fave covers are below – and I'm sure I forgot some as it is. It's always difficult for me to create lists like this because I invariably forget something I would have otherwise included. Let me know what you think of my list and please list your own as well.

  

 

A Second Look at 'This Is Gonna Hurt'

Here's our second look at the new Nikki Sixx book This Is Gonna Hurt. SIXX: AM will release a new album in conjunction with the book. Now, we've got the first audio sample of that new album. Check it out at the 30 second mark of the clip below. I gotta say, I like it a lot. It's not much to go on, but it gives me hope for something good.

The new album is due in May.

'Adventures of a Rock Photographer' Book Available

My friend Vernon Gowdy just produced a new book called Adventures of a Rock Photographer and it's very cool. The book is just over 200 pages and contains a collection of Vernon's best rock photos from 1976-1986.

In addition to photos, Vernon includes interesting stories of behind the scenes action and his days with Jam magazine. In total, there are more than 200 color and black and white photos. Some of the bands photographed in the book include the Rolling Stones, The Who, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Boston, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Pat Benatar, AC/DC, The Cars, Devo, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Sammy Hagar, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads and more.

In full disclosure, I should mention that I have a credit in the book and I did help Vernon with the copy. Friends do for friends, of course.

If you'd like to buy a copy of this hardcover book, they are available now for $69.95 with free shipping in America.

Save or Spend: Music Edition

How do you save money while still keeping up with music?

That is a question that has bugged me for the past year or so. I've drastically cut back on non-necessary spending. These days I'm more into saving for the future instead of just living for the present.

It's hard to keep up with all the new music when you've made a conscious decision to not buy much of anything unless its a necessity. Concert tickets are another story entirely. Tickets are even worse because of the cost factor alone.

So, what do you do? Obviously I still buy albums (you already know I don't download) and I do go to shows. For 2011, I've decided to cut down on my number of concerts and I'll only be doing a couple festivals this year. At some point, we all need to make a collective decision to boycott astronomical tickets prices. After all, as much as we love our bands, at some point we're just lining the pockets of big corporations like Live Nation and hurting our own bottom lines.

Really, it's a frustrating predicament. I'm a bona fide music nerd. Music obsessed, that's me. I've been buying at least one CD a week since I was 14. That's a lot of music, yo. But now what? I always support the bands I love – but I just can't do it to my own detriment anymore. So what do you do? Or don't do? I'm curious.

Underrated: Romeo's Daughter

Let's dig deep and remember a classic band from the 80s: the female-fronted Romeo's Daughter.

The British band formed in the mid-1980s, released a couple albums and is now back together. The cool thing about Romeo's Daughter is that the band's self-titled debut included tracks produced by Mutt Lange. As we all know, basically anything touched by Mutt in the 80s turned into music gold (and platinum).

Romeo's Daughter got a big break when “Heaven in the Back Seat” was included on the Nightmare on Elm Street V soundtrack. (Click the link and read more about that soundtrack and singles).

In case you aren't familiar, the band members are Leigh Matty vox, Craig Joiner (guitar), Tony Mitman (keyboards), Ed Poole (bass) and Andy Wells (drums).

According to the band's Facebook page, the members of Romeo's Daughter are hard at work on a new album now for release soon. I don't expect we'd see the band live in America, but I bet our European friends will and can therefore report back!

Funk and Glam = Electric Boys

Who remembers the Electric Boys?

The Swedish band formed in the late 80s and created songs that were funky, melodic and Glam. So yeah, they rule. Like, “All Lips n' Hips” might be one of the best songs ever. The band broke up years ago but reformed and now they are confirmed for the Sweden Rock cruise.

Have you seen the video for “All Lips n' Hips?” It's like a bizarre mash of big hair, scarves, dark lighting and a Marrakesh-like color palette.

Boy, if bands made songs like “All Lips n' Hips” these days, the world would have a lot less problems. The good news is that the Electric Boys are putting finishing touches on a new album – and I can't wait.

This talk of “All Lips n' Hips” makes me realize I need to add the song to my workout mix. It's definitely great music to move to!